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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26293012">Come home, baby</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_winterfloof_17/pseuds/the_winterfloof_17'>the_winterfloof_17</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Brightest Blue ever seen [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>BAMF Natasha Romanov, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Fluff, M/M, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Nick Fury Swears, Nick Fury is Not Amused, Not Captain America: The Winter Soldier Compliant, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers sort of needs a hug, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark can be adorable, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, small angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:22:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,868</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26293012</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_winterfloof_17/pseuds/the_winterfloof_17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He fell, letting himself go before a hand reached for him, pulling him to their chest, as they fell down, further and further. They both looked up at the sky, as they fell together, the clouds colliding with the smoke in the air. “I forgive you, I forgive you for this, I love you too much to hate you.” James looked at him before holding him closer, “don’t die, Котенок, because I’ll catch you when you fall.” They collided with the water, tears running down Tony’s face as he realized the Soldier was no more.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Brightest Blue ever seen [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1855435</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>252</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter I</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I made this a two parter, didn't want you guys to read a very long chapter. Also, the times where I call the Soldier James is when he is with Tony. Try not to get confused with Tony switching from James to Soldier again. Steve is wearing the navy blue stealth suit in this since they didn't show it enough in the movie.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Come to me, in all your glamour and cruelty<br/>
Just do that thing that you do<br/>
And I'll undress you<br/>
Give it time, sometimes the simplest move is right<br/>
The melody that you choose, can rescue you</em>
</p>
<p>ARTPOP - Lady Gaga</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Tony knew the day would come that the Soldier would have to do missions that would end up hurting more than himself. He was in a board meeting with Pepper when Jarvis alerted him of what happened, with the notification, he excused himself. Walking out of the meeting room, Tony walked to the nearest window, breathing in heavily, “let’s go save Eye Patch man, J.” He ran through the window, holding out pressing the back of his watch as he fell, the suit forming onto him. Once inside, Jarvis pinpointed the location in which Nick Fury was, which was D.C., meaning <em>road trip</em></p>
<p>He didn’t know if this was a good idea to get involved in something that Tony had no idea about. He also didn’t like the fact that the Soldier was part of this, and Tony had an idea of what was supposed to be accomplished. Hydra was finally making a move while using their Asset, his Winter, and Tony didn’t like it one bit. Not caring if he got a few feathers stuck in the face plate, Tony tried to get there as fast as he could, following the path of bullets on the ground and down the streets. </p>
<p>“Jarvis, do we have a visual?”</p>
<p>“Yes, Sir, Fury is speeding down the street right now, I suggest you take a shortcut in one block.” He curved to the left, almost hitting the corner of a building while hearing screams becoming louder and louder as he came closer. Tony made it in time to see the black car being flipped over, and he rushed to get Fury out. He ignored the shadow coming closer and closer while Tony flew down the opposite side, throwing the door to the side. “Hey Eye Patch, long time no see, grab my hand!” </p>
<p>“Stark, what the hell are you doing here?”</p>
<p>“Deal with this first, questions later.” He pulled on Fury’s arm, before completely pulling the man out, quickly flying them out. Tony saw in time the Soldier throwing the car door off its hinges, in time to see Tony disappearing with Fury. The man held on tight when bullets came flying, clanking off the suit as Tony and Fury flew further and further away from the accident. They landed on a building nearby, out of view of cameras and people. He layed Fury on the ground while the man coughed, blood spilling into his hand before struggling to sit up. “T-thanks… for back there--” Tony winced as the man coughed more, “no problem Cyclops, wanna tell me why the Winter Soldier is coming after you?”</p>
<p>That definitely stopped the head of Shield from coughing further, one eye raised suspiciously towards Tony, squinting almost. It took almost all of Tony’s power to stop him from saying arrrghh. “I-well, it’s complicated, Fury.”</p>
<p>“Well, then uncomplicate it.” Tony rolled his eyes at him, yeah no, this situation could not <em>uncomplicate</em> itself so easily. He silently scolded himself, he should’ve known that Hydra would up their game, Tony wondered if they knew about him and the Soldier. “Look, you need to go to a hospital or else you're gonna die here.” </p>
<p>“Take me to Rogers’ apartment then, I have an agent there already but just take me there.” </p>
<p>“But--”</p>
<p>“Stark, if we go to the hospital, we’ll only be seen. We need to lay low, or I do at least.” Tony huffed, before nodding in agreement, helping Fury to his feet. Fury held onto his back before Tony launched himself into the air, flying up into the clouds before finding Steve’s location. During the flight, Tony didn’t know what he was going to say to Steve or explain what was going on between him and the Soldier. At this point, he should call him by his real name, which is Bucky but Tony hates that name so the least he can do is call him James or Winter. Tony didn’t know what he was going to say, ‘hey, I’ve been seeing your best friend for a long time but he doesn’t remember you,’ yeah, no, not nice. They arrived soon, outside of Steve’s apartment building. Tony disengaged the suit, retracting back into the watch and smoothing down his business suit quickly. “You sure this is a good idea?” </p>
<p>He got no answer in return, just a glare that shouldn’t have been as scary with one eye. Tony rolled his eyes before they walked to the fire escape, quickly walking up. Tony felt his phone buzz, which was expected since he did leave rather abruptly from the board meeting. Eh, those old farts could just wait until next time to figure out Stark Industries’ investments or something. He watched as Fury was able to open a window without too much noise, climbing in after the man before closing it. Tony looked around the apartment, noting the amount of items that Steve had, which weren’t many. There were stacks records and a record player on a table with a simple lamp. </p>
<p>Tony noted the way the apartment gave off a look of a 40s’ apartment, which Steve was probably going for since he’s only been in this century for two years now. He jumped slightly when Fury put a record on, the song filling the room as Fury sat down in an armchair. Tony paced around in the living room, hoping Steve would show up sooner or later because the anxiety was spiking every second now. “If you keep pacing, someone will notice us.”</p>
<p>“Sorry--” Fury grunted as he sat up, squinting at Tony before getting comfortable, “so, how do you know about the Winter Soldier? Out of all the people I know, I would never expect you to know.”</p>
<p>“Well, what I do know is that he is considered a ghost in the spy slash assassin world, a myth really. But the way I know him is personally.” Tony fidgeted with the watch, avoiding Fury’s piercing gaze at him before Fury nodded along. “How personal?”</p>
<p>“Very personal… I’ve known him since I was seven.” The man raised his eyebrow at Tony, and Tony was already getting the feeling that Fury was finding this hard to believe so far. “How did you come to meet him?”</p>
<p>“Actually, he came to me. I was in Central park, laying on the grass, looking at the sky, it wasn’t anything special really. I don’t know why he sat next to me but he did. I’ve seen him since Afghanistan happened. He helped me stop the Mandarin.” Before they could say more, they heard talking outside of the door, clearly Steve talking to one of his neighbors, which could be the agent Fury was talking about. Tony knew which one he was talking about too, Sharon Carter, a good family friend slash cousin even though they weren’t related. Tony just prayed that Steve wasn’t flirting with his ex-girlfriend’s niece because that would just be weird. He watched as Fury slowly raised the volume of the song as the chattering outside slowly stopped and footsteps were heard. </p>
<p>They both waited with baited breath, Tony clenching and unclenching his fists, praying that Steve would show his spangled ass in already. What they didn’t expect was the back window open, cautious footsteps approaching as Fury looked outside the window. Tony shifted quietly on the couch, laying his feet on the coffee table as he saw Steve poke his head around the corner. He watched as Steve visibly relaxed slightly before taking in the two people in his apartment.<br/>
“I don’t remember giving you both a key.” Tony chuckled, sitting up while Fury grunted, sitting up properly before looking at Steve sternly, “you really think I’d need one?”</p>
<p>“He’s got a point there Steeb,” raising his eyebrows at Steve, while ignoring Fury’s glare at him, “my wife kicked me out.” The two men looked at the one eyed man, trying so hard to believe him. Tony wasn’t sure if Fury was just trying to cover for himself but he figured there were other reasons too. “I didn’t know you were married.” Tony scoffed, standing up before looking around, outside the window, looking around, probably not a good idea. Doing this would probably be an invitation for the Soldier to appear and usually this would be the time he showed. </p>
<p>“Mmm, yes, his wife kicked him out and he got a free ride from me. Gave me an excuse to leave a board meeting.” </p>
<p>“A lot of things you don’t know about me.”</p>
<p>“I know, Nick. That’s the problem,” Steve walked over to the living room, holding the shield tightly as he turned the lamp light on. Tony watched the way Steve froze before Fury put his hand, turning the light off again quietly. He watched as Fury used his phone to communicate to Steve, while Tony was killing from suspense. He froze though when the words across Fury’s screen showed up, <em>SHIELD compromised</em>. So that’s why he was getting all those security alerts, Shield was compromised and Tony wasn’t even paying attention. </p>
<p>They kept mentioning Fury’s “wife” over and over again, which probably meant Shield but Tony was ignoring it. He didn’t like the way this conversation was going, especially if Fury admitted there were ears everywhere. If only they were at the tower right now, it would’ve been much better. </p>
<p>Tony was looking out the window when he swore on his life he saw movements of silver gleaming in the moonlight. He turned in time to see Fury standing up, “Fury no!” Gunshots rang out, hitting the man through the chest twice before he completely collapsed to the ground. The Iron Man suit immediately formed around Tony, hearing the door open as they dragged Fury away from the living room. Tony was about to turn back when Fury grabbed his hand, handing him something, “don’t trust anyone,” he choked out as the door banged open. Tony sighed in relief when he saw his friend, gesturing for Sharon to come over quickly. </p>
<p>“Captain, I’m Agent 13 of Shield, Special Service.” She put the gun away before frowning at Tony, “what are you doing here?”</p>
<p>“I could ask the same question, Shar but I won’t.” </p>
<p>“Kate?”</p>
<p>“I’m assigned to protect you.”</p>
<p>Tony looked towards the window, “you guys stay here, I think I know who did this.” He flew through the window, following the shadow quickly before turning in time to see Steve flying through the open window. There was definitely going to be construction done to the building over, the way he could hear crashing going on. He flew fast enough to knock the Soldier over, rolling them both onto the gravel quickly, seeing Steve crash through the last window. </p>
<p>Tony didn’t have enough time to register what was happening before the Soldier disassembled the watch, damn him for knowing, pulling Tony towards him just as Steve’s shield went flying in his direction. He squeaked just as the shield was about to hit him, the Soldier catching it with his metal arm swiftly. </p>
<p>“Tony!” </p>
<p>He opened his mouth to say something back, but the shield was thrown back, before he realized he was being pulled downwards. The Soldier pulled Tony into his chest as they fell downwards, his hands tightening on the Soldier’s vest as they hit the ground. Tony’s brain was a little slow though, considering what just happened and the fact that Steve was probably freaking out right now. </p>
<p>The Soldier dragged him into an alleyway, shoving him up against a wall aggressively, pulling the mask off quickly. Tony mmphed when the Soldier kissed him fiercely, hands tightening on his hips as his legs were wrapped around the Soldier’s waist. </p>
<p>“Котенок… you could’ve gotten hurt.” The Soldier’s eyes shined concern, tightening his hold on Tony possessively while looking down at Tony. Honestly, the Soldier had a fair point and to be honest, Tony knew he was kinda right. But at the same time, the Soldier <em>was</em> the one who dismantled the watch first, so who’s fault was it?</p>
<p>“Technically, I would’ve been absolutely fine---” The Soldier glared at him, kissing him again, hands digging right into his hip bones, probably leaving bruises. Tony squeaked again when the Soldier nipped at his lip before putting him down. He wanted to say more but knew the timing wasn’t right, this whole situation wasn’t helping either, and Tony didn’t know how he was gonna explain this to Steve. </p>
<p>They walked out of the alleyway, the Soldier’s hand pressed firmly to Tony back the entire time, eyes trained everywhere before they walked to a motorcycle. Tony realized that they were probably in an area that had no security cameras which made sense for the Winter Soldier to get away with something like this. </p>
<p>“What’s Hydra planning,” blurting out the words before he could even stop himself. He watched as the Soldier got on the bike, mask on with the paint smeared around his eyes. The Soldier pulled him by the lapel of his jacket, before wrapping it around Tony’s back. He looked up at Tony, rubbing soothing circles into his back, which Tony didn’t even realize made him relax until now. “Котенок, you know I can’t say anything.” </p>
<p>“I know, I just--” Tony looked down, biting his lip before the Soldier’s hand gently pulled him back to meet his eyes, “what, Котенок? Mmmm?” He raised his eyebrows at Tony, gently smoothing over the wrinkles on his face. “Tell me this is it, Winter, please? Tell me that this is it, the final mission?” </p>
<p>“Tony… Котенок, I can’t, I don’t know if this is it.” </p>
<p>“Then remember our promise. Please..” </p>
<p>“No matter how much they take away, I won’t forget, and I haven’t yet. Every time I see you, the memories come back, because I know you're waiting for me to come home.”</p>
<p>“Will you come home when it’s time then?” Tony looked at the Soldier, there were words he wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come out. He softly traced the mask that covered half of the Soldier’s handsome face, tracing his cheekbones softly. “Promise you’ll come home, James.” He felt the Soldier’s eyes crinkle under his fingertips, pale blue eyes meeting whiskey brown ones. “What happened to Bucky?”</p>
<p>“I hate that nickname, it doesn’t suit you. To me, you are just Winter, or in time, just James.” </p>
<p>“I promise to come home to you then.” The Soldier squeezed his hand one final time, kissing the knuckles softly before speeding away into the darkness, leaving Tony worried even more. He made out in time to see Natasha pulling him up in one of his cars, opening the window. “That was him, wasn’t it?”</p>
<p>“Natasha, not a goddamn word. If Steve--”</p>
<p>“Tony, Steve already thinks that you're dead or something.” Natasha looked at him, before unlocking the door. He couldn’t read her expression but he was sure that she was probably silently panicking about Fury right now. They drove quickly to the hospital, and Tonu ignored the way Natasha cut through all the red lights, practically almost speeding down the streets of D.C.. “Like the haircut, Romanov, suits you,” he could see the small smile form on her face which was Tony’s goal to cheer her up at least. They arrived in time at the hospital, FBI investigators and Shield agents were already there, their cars blocking the street. The car stopped abruptly, it was still moving as Natasha got out, Tony following her before paparazzi came rushing towards him. </p>
<p>They were screaming his name and asking what had happened to Nick Fury, blah blah blah, this was not the time to do this. “Look, if you all wanna know, you're just gonna have to wait.” Shuffling into the hospital, he quickly caught up with Natasha as they both ran in time to see Fury going through surgery. He stood by the door while Natasha ran up next to Steve, Maria Hill was standing in the corner, on the phone. </p>
<p>He watched as they were trying to stop the bleeding, sewing and patching up a few places as the surgeons went. Tony knew one thing though, even if Fury was dead, he’d always somehow come back, so he wasn’t too worried. He also couldn’t say that outloud, Natasha would punch him through a wall if he said that and Steve would just give his disappointed stare. Steve noticed the reflection of Tony, whirling around before rushing over to check Tony over, which made him annoyed, he <em>was</em> fine. </p>
<p>“Jesus, I thought you were dead or something.”<br/>
“Steve, my dear Captain, I’ve had many encounters with death, I should be dead right now but I’m not.”</p>
<p>“Yeah but he grabbed you so fast, I thought my shield was gonna hit your face.” Tony patted him on the back, giving him a reassuring look before Steve looked at him concerned while walking away. Tony heard the faint sound of beeping, already knowing where this was going but he knew, just knew without saying it. Fury wasn’t dead, nope, and Tony didn’t care if any of them believed him or not, but Fury always did like to leave dramatically. It seemed fair that he died a dramatic death, take a bow. </p>
<p>“Time of death, 1:03 am.” He looked down, checking the time while Maria and Steve left Natasha alone. He followed them outside, before looking down at the flashdrive Fury had handed him, standing next to Steve. “What do you think is on it?” He looked up, meeting Steve’s blue eyes, they were darker than the Soldier-- something Tony should definitely not be comparing to right now. “I don’t know, but he wanted one of us to have it for a reason.” </p>
<p>Steve agreed, before they waited in the hospital with Maria and Natasha, waiting for Fury’s body to be presented to them. Five minutes later, they were notified, and together, the trio walked down to the morgue, his body clean of any blood while being covered by a sheet. Maria had tears forming in her eyes but didn’t let them pass, Steve just stood quietly to the side, watching Natasha. Tony could tell she was having a hard time watching someone who saved her from a life of being in the KGB, giving her a job and a home. </p>
<p>Tony observed everything from the corner, waiting to have a moment with the man before Maria came in, saying she needed to take the body away. With some gentle nudging, Steve got Natasha to finally move away from the body, pulling her outside. Tony walked over to Fury’s body, looking down at the man before leaning near his ear, “you may have everyone fooled dear Uncle, but I know you're not dead. Yet at least. You sure got Natasha going though, she actually shed a tear and I’ve never seen her do that. I hope you know what you're doing.” He patted his head before nodding to Maria, walking out just as Natasha and Steve were talking. </p>
<p>“Why was Fury in your apartment?” Steve stopped before looking at Tony, “I don’t know, you’d have to ask Tony.” She turned to Tony, who shrugged at her. “Jarvis sent me a notification that there was a security problem in one of the cars Fury was driving. Flew to D.C. and got him outta there before anyone got hurt. He told me to just take him to Steve’s apartment and we waited for him to come home.” </p>
<p>“You're a terrible liar, Stark.”</p>
<p>“Actually, I’m not, and you know it too. Romanov.” Tony nodded to both of them, before walking out of the hospital, Natasha slowly following behind. They got in the car, before Natasha put a hand on the wheel. She turned to him, narrowing her eyes at Tony, “did you know he was going to do this?”<br/>
“Nat--”</p>
<p>“No, did you?”</p>
<p>“No. I’m swearing on my unborn child here. Trust me, I’ve tried asking, but he doesn’t tell me anything.”</p>
<p>“What do you mean? Doesn’t he trust you?”</p>
<p>“Yes, Romanov, he does. But I won’t push him for answers, if I do that, then he won’t answer and he’ll walk away. He gets scared easily if I ask too many questions.”</p>
<p>“Did he say anything about missions?” Tony looked at her exasperatedly, “this isn’t his final mission. I asked him if this was it--I…” the words choked out, Tony looked down, while Natasha squeezed his hand tightly. “Nat, I...I don’t want to lose what I have with him. Keeping it from Steve wasn’t a good idea.”</p>
<p>“Steve wasn’t and isn’t ready yet. But Tony, he’ll find out eventually, and you can’t stop it either. But if this isn’t the Soldier’s last mission, then we have to be ready.” He nodded before they drove off, back to Shield headquarters. Once they got there, they met the Shield S.T.R.I.K.E Team along with Steve, and Tony was getting a weird vibe from all of them. He could feel the flashdrive bounce in his suit pocket, while Rumlow and his men watched Tony intently. He hated them, especially Rumlow; everything about Rumlow screamed mean, bully, bad guy. </p>
<p>“Hey Steve,” Steve turned around in time, looking at Tony confused before Tony gestured for him to come over quickly. “Give me your helmet for a sec, Spangles.” Taking the helmut, Steve handed it to him, before watching Tony examine the cowl, looking inside. Pulling a pair of pliers he had from the workshop, Tony moved behind Steve’s body to pull out what he found, which was a tracker. Pushing everything back into place, Tony handed it back to Steve, smiling before they walked in together. </p>
<p>He waited near the control room, where the Shield babies were being taught while the other agents were looking at data and locations. He saw Sharon pass Steve, who didn’t even glance at her as he met with Alexander Pierce. Tony smiled when she met his eyes, beaming at him before walking towards him. “Hey cuz, whatcha doin here? Thought you’d be in New York by now.”</p>
<p>“Eh, Pepper will be fine without me, remember, I’m not even CEO anymore.” </p>
<p>“That doesn’t mean she doesn't need you.” Sharon laughed at his pout before pecking him on the cheek, waving as she left. He laughs at her before waiting for the elevator, getting in and pressing the down button. Tony got on just as Steve was on already, “hello, Spangles, how was the meeting with Pierce?”</p>
<p>“Just peachy,” Tony raised an eyebrow before they waited in the elevator.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    <strong>_______________</strong>
  </p>
</div>A few bruises and a deep cut on the cheek later, Tony and Steve were both running out of the Shield base, stopping on the way to destroy a quinjet. Thankfully, Tony had the suit, but he couldn’t use it without getting noticed. They had to stay low for now before doing anything else. They both panted heavily once outside, somewhere along the street. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew they were tracking me?”<p>“I had a theory, Capsicle, didn’t want you to be traced. Besides, seeing how your visit went with Pierce, they're definitely gonna start a manhunt.” </p>
<p>“I don’t get why he didn’t ask for you instead. You're the one that saved Nick before he was killed.” Tony looked at Steve before shaking his head, “there’s some things that are happening right now, Cap. Can’t really talk about it but I know one thing for sure. Fury isn’t dead, but damn does he love his dramatic entrances.” Steve hummed at the sentence, before they walk further down the street, avoiding any place with a camera, “we need to lay low until we can figure out what to do.”</p>
<p>“That’s exactly what Eye Patch man said, still got the flashdrive.” </p>
<p>“Good, we need to figure out what’s on it.” From there, they called Natasha from Tony’s phone, meeting her at the mall quickly. They changed into some low-profile clothes, which reminded Tony of when he did it with James, it made him smile. He pulled up the black hoodie, making sure the black jeans fit before looking at Steve. “Oh god, those shoes look absolutely ridiculous on you.” Steve only rolled his eyes at the comment while Natasha just chuckled. </p>
<p>“Stark, you’ve done this before, haven’t you?”</p>
<p>“Mmm yes, it was when everyone thought I was dead and people that turned into firecrackers were looking for me 24/7. You get used to it.” That definitely got Steve laughing before they walked outside of the store, looking for a store with a computer that couldn’t be tracked. “Jarvis, find me, ugh kill me now, an Apple store please.” </p>
<p>“Yes, Sir, there is an Apple store five stores down on your left.” Tony walked quicker, keeping his head down low as Steve and Natasha both followed. Although anyone could tell Steve wasn’t used to keeping a low profile exactly, referring to the comment about not running but walking instead. Something Tony had to learn the hard way with James. “Steve, you keep looking around, you might as well just scream Captain America is here now.” </p>
<p>“Sorry.” He said sheepishly, blushing while looking down towards the ground until they got to the Apple store. They found an empty computer, which Tony played around with until they were on a Stark server for security purposes. He had Jarvis delay the alert to Shield where their location was, giving them time to plug in the flashdrive. “Alright, Nat, how much time do we have?”</p>
<p>“Nine minutes, Tones.”<br/>
“Alright, J, you know what to do.” Once the flash drive was opened, there was an A.I overriding the commands he was trying to do, until Jarvis was able to disable it. “Sir, it appears that there is difficulty with finding the information required. There could hostile malware--”</p>
<p>“Then run a tracer, J, we don’t have time.” He waited while Jarvis applied the tracer, looking around while Steve and Natasha were looking at him. “What?”</p>
<p>“Nothing, sorry. Just, thanks for helping me or us with this.”</p>
<p>“Eh, anything to get away from a board meeting, Steve-O. I just hope Pepper doesn’t murder me with her heels anytime soon. Nat, you tell Cap about who the figure was yet?”</p>
<p>“No--”</p>
<p>“Tell him now before we don’t have time, Rumlow and his goons will be here soon.” Tony pointed a look at her, which only made Natasha narrow her eyes at him before looking at Steve. “Fine, I know who killed Fury.” Steve straightened, eyes moving from her to Tony, who shrugged in return. “Most of the intelligence community doesn’t believe he exists.” Tony wanted to correct her on that so much, but there was only so much they both could tell Steve. “The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. He’s credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years.” </p>
<p>Tony only listened in on the conversation before an Apple worker came over, looking like a lumberjack with those tacky name tags they were forced to wear. He was able to find the location just as Natasha made some excuse that they were getting married, which made Tony laugh seeing the blush appearing on Steve’s face. “Alright, got it, Shield babies. Your welcome, I’m leaving now.” </p>
<p>“Wait, you're leaving?”</p>
<p>“Sorry Apple Pie, someone’s gotta watch over the tower while you two are gone. I’ll let you two find it and report back.” With that being said, Tony left the store, only being able to dodge the S.T.R.I.K.E Team by two minutes, seeing them pass the store quickly. They weren’t exactly discreet though, they walked around like they would bully people into giving them money or something. He was passing Rumlow just as he saw a glimpse of silver in the distance. </p>
<p>Tony was about to turn a corner when someone yanked him into one of the stores, slapping a hand over his mouth before dragging him into a dressing room. “Ok, please don’t take my kidney, anything but the kidney.” He was shoved against the mirror, grunting before their lips were on him, hands tightening on his hips. He opened his eyes in time to see the pale blue ones, a black ball cap only blocking part of his face. The hands loosened before a hand went around his throat, the other pressed against the glass. “What are you doing?” James gritted, glaring right at Tony, the hand only tightening.</p>
<p>“If I say I was bored--,” the hand only tightened more, James growled at him, “Котенок---”</p>
<p>“I’m fine. Seriously, does Hydra know you're out here anyway?” The hand loosened, the Soldier looking at him before sighing, letting him go. Tony tried to hide the cut on his face, but it was too late, James grabbed his face, looking over the fresh cut. “I’m. Fine. James--”</p>
<p>“If you help, you're going to get hurt, and I won’t hurt you.”</p>
<p>“Well you're gonna have to if this is the way we’re going, Terminator.” Tony placed his hand between them, pressing slowly against James’s chest, “if I get hurt, it’s no one’s fault except Hydra’s. Not yours.”</p>
<p>“But--” Tony placed a finger against the Soldier’s mouth, gently shaking his head, “he will find out and I can’t make excuses if he knows that I knew the entire time.” James clutched his hand tightly, kissing his fingertips gently, “even if something happens, I know you’ll pull me out.” Saying that, James kissed Tony’s forehead softly, taking in how adorable the shorter man was, before taking his ball cap off, putting it on Tony. “If I have to fight you, I can’t promise that I’ll be gentle.” </p>
<p>“I know that, James, but we knew this was gonna happen. It wouldn’t just be the two of us anymore. There are people that will find out eventually. It won’t look good either that I knew who you were the entire time and never said anything to Steve.” </p>
<p>“It’s not your fault though, dorogoy. You're the only thing that keeps my memories safe.” Tony grinned softly at James, raising on his tippy toes to gently kiss James on the lips, the Soldier meeting him halfway. With one final kiss, the Soldier left, leaving Tony in the dressing room alone, thoughts running through his head rapidly. Once the Soldier was gone, Tony realized something, and boy, did it scare him immensely. He said it out loud anyway, <em>I love you</em>.</p>
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</div>His world was tilting slightly overboard, considering Natasha just texted him and Clint that Shield was Hydra the entire time. Oh, how Howard is screaming in his grave right now over this, all the work he put through just to find out a parasite grew inside of Shield itself. Quickly though, he finds the location of where they are, flying over to a man’s house, named Sam Wilson apparently. A running buddy of Cap’s which shouldn’t surprise him at all.<p>Tony walked up the stairs, knocking on the door before it opened, a dark-skinned man greeting him, “Mr. Stark, pleasure to meet you.”</p>
<p>“Oh god, please, call me Tony. My father was Mr. Stark, I’m just Tony.” The man smiled, opening the door wider to Tony as he walked inside. He took in the appearances of Steve and Natasha, both still a little dirtied up from what happened. “I leave for a few hours and you kids already got into trouble. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Thought you were smarter than that, Cap.” </p>
<p>“Well, you can’t do much when the place gets destroyed, plus meeting Zola wasn’t fun either.” Tony raised an eyebrow at the comment, while thanking Sam for the orange juice. Natasha just shrugged, sitting down next to him, stealing his orange juice in the process. “So, does anyone wanna explain to me why I was called here, or that you guys look like you went through hell.” </p>
<p>“Hydra is planning on using Project: Insight to kill more than a million people around the planet. We met Zola at the old bunker, using--”</p>
<p>“Operation Paperclip, Howard mentioned it a few times after too many drinks, Shield thought recruiting Zola would help their cause. Honestly I didn’t think that they would be this stupid to let this happen.” Natasha looked at him, probably surprised by the amount of information that Tony already knew. “Remember, Romanov, don’t ever underestimate me, I know more than you do.” She only smirked at him, ignoring Steve and Sam’s confused looks.</p>
<p>“Oh trust me, Mr. Stark, I try not to. That’s the problem with you, people tend to underestimate you too much.” He kicked her under the table, while Steve shook his head at the both of them. “So, the question is now, who at Shield could launch a domestic missile strike?”</p>
<p>“Pierce.”</p>
<p>“Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world--”</p>
<p>“Actually that’s false, it’s actually the Avengers tower but sure, give Shield credit for trying.” Natasha rolled her eyes at him, while they tried to figure out who else had access. Tony just sat and listened, playing with his Starkpad until Natasha said something, “so was Jasper Sitwell.” He looked up, the name catching his attention quickly before looking at the two. “So, the real question is, how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a Shield officer in broad daylight?” </p>
<p>“The answer is, you don’t,” Sam threw a file on the table, pictures of him with other people in the Army, “what’s this?”</p>
<p>“Call it a resume.” Tony raised his eyebrow at Sam, looking through the pictures quickly before standing up, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that we were getting applications for the Avengers now. What can you offer us?”</p>
<p>“This,” Sam tossed another file at Tony, looking at Sam questionably before opening it, inside was information on… wings? Also known as EXO-7, or Falcon, and the technology was actually pretty good, considering Tony was still picky about today’s tech. He handed the file over to Steve and Natasha, both reading and asking about a mission Sam apparently did. Steve looked at Sam, trying to figure out what to say from Tony’s view, “I can’t ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason,”</p>
<p>“Dude, Captain America and Iron Man need my help. There’s no better reason to get back in.” Tony smirked, patting Sam on the back before saying “then I guess we’re gonna need one of those, where can we get them?”</p>
<p>“Last one is at Forte Meade. Behind three guarded gates and a 12-inch steel wall.” </p>
<p>“Shouldn’t be a problem then.”</p>
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</div>He sat on the rooftop while Steve, Natasha, and Sam were waiting to snatch Sitwell up. The door burst open, the man himself being thrown to the ground as Steve and Natasha stormed in. Tony stood up on the rooftop edge, looking down at the man on the ground. “What were you doing on the <em>Lemurian Star</em>?”<p>Steve and Natasha advanced forward, walking faster as Sitwell walked closer to the edge, “I was throwing up. I got seasick,--” the man bumped right into Tony, causing him to almost stumble off the edge with Sitwell. Natasha grabbed onto Tony’s pants tightly, while waiting for Sitwell to answer, the poor man was being pulled by the lapels up to Steve’s eyes. “Is this little display meant to insinuate that you’re gonna throw me off the roof? Because it’s really not your style, Rogers”</p>
<p>“You’re right. It’s not. It’s his.” Before Sitwell could say anything else, Natasha kicked him in the stomach, Tony grabbing onto the man before laughing, “remember Sitwell, I play the bad guy very well,” before falling off the edge, grabbing Sitwell by the jacket as they fell. The man screamed the whole way down, which gave Tony a huge headache, which also made him let go of Sitwell, activating the suit and flying up. </p>
<p>“Oh, wait. What about that girl from Accounting, Laura…”</p>
<p>“Lillian. Lip piercing, right?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, she’s cute. </p>
<p>“Yeah. I’m not ready for that.” He flew up in time, laughing at what Steve just said, “what, lip piercings freak you out or something?” Tony wiggled his eyebrows at Steve, who only blushed more while Natasha laughed. They heard the screaming coming up, followed by Sam dropping Sitwell to the ground, only making the man panic even more. </p>
<p>After that, the four of them found out that Project: Insight was planning to get rid of any threat to Hydra, meaning Bruce, Stephen Strange, (don’t know that guy, but rocks the goatee,) and Steve too. Sitwell pointed towards Tony before saying, “you and Captain Rogers are the biggest threats to Hydra.” </p>
<p>“I would imagine so, depending on how you look at it.” They forced Sitwell to explain Zola’s algorithm further, and from the way Sitwell was describing it, they would’ve killed Tony off themselves. Apparently he deserved that or would’ve had the option to join them and make weapons. Something that Tony had definitely crossed off his list permanently.</p>
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<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter II</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I actually somehow managed to make the ending kinda cheesy using the titles from the other stories. Did shed a tear once but I doubt this will make anyone shed tears. Enjoy!</p><p>P.S., I know some of the fight scene will sound repetitive but I was writing parts of these two chapters early in the morning. But I tried so enjoy it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Darling, you're the one I want, and<br/>
I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this</em>
</p><p>Paper Rings - Taylor Swift</p><p>…</p><p>Sam was driving the car while Steve sat in the passenger seat, Tony in the middle, and Sitwell on his left. Tony didn’t actually know where they were driving to, considering the location wasn’t exactly pointed out. “Hydra doesn’t like leaks.”</p><p>“If you keep talking, I’ll shove a vial of palladium down your throat, Sitwell.” </p><p>“Oh yes, and that stuff hurts, isn’t that right, Stark?”</p><p>“Indeed it is, Miss. Romanov.” He could see Steve biting back a smirk on his face while Sitwell just shrank further and further into his seat. “Insight’s launching in 16 hours. We’re cutting it a little bit close here, boys.”</p><p>“I know. We’ll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the helicarriers directly--”</p><p>“Orrrr, we can use Jarvis and myself since I did help design the helicarriers in the first place, Capsicle. Besides,” he poked a finger at Sitwell, “we don’t know if Hydra will kill this guy off or not. Either way works though.”</p><p>“What! Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea.” The sentence was cut short though, there was a thud coming from the top. Before Tony’s very eyes, he saw the Soldier rip the man from his seat, throwing him across the highway, his screams being cut out quickly. Natasha looked at Tony before climbing into the front seat while Tony stayed still. He didn’t know what to do, but he also knew that James would kill him for being here. This wasn’t going to be an easy fight, Tony didn’t say anything though. </p><p>Bullets hit the seats, almost hitting Tony in the process while Steve tried stopping the car. They stopped it so fast, it made the Soldier go flying over the car, only his arm stopping him from going further. The scratching sound of metal against pavement made Tony shiver, feeling goosebumps forming under his suit jacket. </p><p>“Get out! Get out now!” Natasha grabbed the gun while Tony tried activating the suit, but couldn’t, being inside a car wasn’t going to help the situation. His head hit the back of the seat, the car being hit from behind while Natasha dropped her gun. Tony could taste the blood dripping from his nose, while hearing another thud as the Soldier got back on the car. Sam tried stopping the car completely, while being pushed further and further by the truck behind them. Tony watched in horror as the Soldier ripped the steering wheel right from Sam’s hands, tossing it out the hole of the roof. The truck came back, ramming right into them as Natasha was able to grab her gun again, shooting randomly at the ceiling. </p><p>“Hang on!” Steve grabbed Natasha and Sam both just as the car was hitting the side of the curb, before Steve rammed the shield into the car door, while Tony had no idea what to do. But it was already too late, he gasped just as the car door ripped away from the rest of it. He watched from an unusual angle, Natasha’s eyes widening as Tony’s hand skimmed hers, before the car went rolling away from them. “Tony!” </p><p>The car rolled, while Tony was inside, shards of glass dug into his skin, holding onto the handles for dear life, as the car skidded to a stop. Tony slid weakly out of the car window, panting heavily while blood was smeared all over his suit. He saw in time, Steve go flying as he pushed Natasha to the side to take the blow, noticing Sam rolling a few times before stopping a few feet away. </p><p>Tony got up in time, the noises being vaguely heard before forcing his legs to move. “Sir, I recommend medical assistance immediately, the reactor--”</p><p>“Jarvis, I don’t wanna hear it!” He ran towards Sam, almost stumbling on the way before helping the man get up. “Oh thank the Lord! You good, man?”</p><p>“I consider this to be one of my good days.” They both turned in time to see bullets flying, Natasha running towards them before ducking behind one of the cars. Sam followed her before Tony activated the watch, aiming a repulsor right at the Hydra guards. “Sir, the power is down--”</p><p>“What the fuck do you mean its’ down, Jarvis?” Tony was hit with a bullet to the shoulder, making him grunt before he aimed it at the person who hit him. He ran backwards, moving next to Natasha in time, hearing gunshots going back and forth. “You seemed to really piss him off today, Stark.”</p><p>“Stop… this is not the time nor the place, Romanov.” She grabbed his good arm, pulling him with her just as an explosion happened. Tony followed her quickly while using his repulsors to stop what he could. There were more pieces of glass flying everywhere, digging into Tony’s shoulder as he rolled to the opposite side of the highway. He couldn’t catch up to Natasha though, his shoulder was stopping him, so the only thing Tony could do was hide behind one of the abandoned cars. Tony watched in time to see Natasha jumping off the highway altogether, seeing through the flames the grappling hook she shot out to not fall. </p><p>It was quiet for a second, before Tony poked his head in time to see bullets flying in his direction now. Good, he had them distracted now, running behind cars as he got closer and closer to Sam. Sam turned in time, relief showing before he handed Tony a gun, “Stark, you look like shit.”</p><p>“Like I said, this is one of my good days.” He stood up in time, aiming the gun straight at the Hydra guards, managing to hit one or two of them. Tony didn’t realize that his boyfriend was now getting angrier and angrier by the second, and not because he was getting shot at but because Tony was hurt now. Tony hit two more before he realized he was out of bullets, so the only thing he could do was… jump. “Stark!” Sam yelled to him but Tony ignored him, jumping off the edge of the highway, catching in time the glimpse of the goggles and mask. The goggles were a new look for the Soldier, and Tony hated it already. He landed on top of a car roughly, wincing as the pain in his shoulder increased, before escaping the rain of bullets coming down. </p><p>Thank god Pepper suggested he exercise more, he wasn’t a supersoldier, but he was fast enough that the bullets were missed. He caught up to Natasha just as she stopped, seeing the shadow of the Soldier on the highway edge. “Stark, I’m starting to wonder if this would’ve gone better if you weren’t here.”</p><p>“Gotta support the friends though, Nat.”</p><p>“And? What about the shoulder?”</p><p>“Well, I think he saw the shoulder, and I don’t think he’s happy.” Natasha turned her guns up, aiming for the Soldier head and being able to hit part of the goggles. Tony grabbed her hand, pulling away from under the bridge, towards more of the abandoned cars. Tony was able to narrowly avoid the bullets the Soldier was shooting, though he knew they were meant for Natasha, not him. “Natasha! Go! You're only making things worse. Go!”</p><p>“What about---”</p><p>“I’ll be fine, just go!” She nodded before running in another direction while Tony ran to hide behind one of the cars. He could hear the Soldier saying something in Russian to two of the guards before jumping down onto a car. Tony’s heartbeat was pounding, making him breath faster, he looked down in time to see the reactor was cracked. Fuck, well, that’s not good. He clutched the arc reactor tightly while taking his suit jacket off, wrapping it around his shoulder quickly. </p><p>Tony turned in time to see bullets being aimed at the bus Steve was in, and he aimed his repulsor at the men, hitting them almost immediately. He got up in time to see Steve break through the car window, the shield protecting him from the bullets. Seeing that Sam and Steve were taking care of the rest of the guys, Tony ran in Natasha’s direction. He looked around in time to see Natasha kicking the Soldier right in the face, wrapping something like a wire around his neck. </p><p>Tony moved forward just as the Soldier was throwing her against a car, watching her throw something to stop the Soldier’s arm from working. He didn’t move fast enough to warn Natasha to maybe not scream “get out of the way,” while running, honestly he thought she could do better. Tony didn’t know for sure if maybe she could get the Soldier’s attention away from him, but it was working. He did miss the shot the Soldier got through her shoulder before she hid behind the car. </p><p>He was about to move when a hand grabbed him by the throat, pulling him midair. Tony gasped, the metal hands tightening around his throat while he met dangerous eyes again. The Soldier was not happy, and Tony knew it. The shield hit the Soldier’s arm before either of them could say anything, making him drop Tony. The drop didn’t do kindly to his already injured body, hearing the sounds of the shield meeting arm loudly. The vibrations made Tony clutch his head, yelling out in pain before something grabbed him by the waist. He yelled from the pain, not realizing that the Soldier picked him up, while Steve only fought harder. He could hear bullets being shot, bouncing off the shield as the metal arm tightened around his waist, pulling him closer. </p><p>“Tony!” The blood loss and the ache in his head made Tony hear everything a little fuzzier, squeezing his eyes tightly. He gasped when he hit the ground again, knocking the wind out of him as Steve kicked the Soldier right into a car harshly. Tony rolled onto the ground weakly, trying to stand up but everything felt like jelly, his shoulder was throbbing. “J-jam--,” the words were cut off just as he saw the Soldier grab Steve by the throat, pulling him closely before tossing him aside. The Soldier looked back in time, and Tony could tell that every movement of the Soldier’s body wanted to move to Tony, help him. </p><p>Tony needed to get up, but his body was rejecting every movement right now, but he <em>needed</em> to get up, because depending on how this was going. He knew what was going to happen soon, that mask wouldn’t stay on forever and only Tony knew that. Using every muscle to move back up, Tony used what he could, running in time to stop the Soldier’s pocket knife from going into Steve. “D-don’t do this.” He knew the Soldier, James, could easily overpower his hand but he didn’t, which sort of confused Tony and Steve too, poor guy. The Soldier pulled his hand forward, looking directly into his eyes, “don’t make this difficult, Котенок.”</p><p>“I always make it difficult, you know that,” he grinned sharply at the Soldier, before pulling him against his back tightly. The hold the Soldier had on him tightened when Tony tried to move, and he was still fighting Steve with a goddamn pocket knife. Tony remembered once that Howard said Hydra would never attack them with a pocket knife, well Howard, guess what: You were wrong. </p><p>Steve kicked the Soldier hard again, causing Tony to go flying against a car, while the Soldier almost stabbed the Captain, narrowly avoiding it by a second. He screamed at the pain in his shoulder, feeling the bullet slightly move in his muscles while Steve and the Soldier continued to fight. Steve grabbed the Soldier by the mouth, throwing him across the road, Tony’s eyes widened, the mask <em>had fallen off</em>.</p><p>It was like watching a movie in slow motion, watching as James got up, turning to face Steve, watching as Steve’s eyes widened like saucers. “Bucky?”</p><p>“Who the hell is Bucky?” He aimed the gun at Steve before Sam came flying down, kicking the gun away from the Soldier’s hands. James got up, looking around frantically before his eyes met Tony’s, he was still leaning on the car before the Soldier grabbed him. Holding Tony close to him, James aimed the gun at Steve before another explosion happened, which made them both disappear out of sight completely.</p>
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</div>The minute Tony woke up, he was laying on gravel or somethin rocky, as he got up. He groaned, his shoulder was throbbing but it was bandaged up, and clean from bacteria. He cracked an eye open, meeting James’ eyes, they were filled entirely with concern and worry. Tony got up, staggering a little before looking at James, “well, that could’ve gone better but I guess Steve knows now. Did you really have to take me with you though?”<p>The Soldier crossed his arms, glaring right at Tony, “Котенок, you're injured, I need you to sit down.”</p><p>“But I have to go back before---” the Soldier shook his head, pulling Tony close, running his fingers through his hair. “Don’t worry, dorogoy, you’ll be home soon.”</p><p>“Which one our we referencing? ‘Cause there’s two, the old one and the new one.”</p><p>“You know which one, why didn’t you have the suit?”</p><p>“Power was down, used what you taught me.” Tony looked at him, wanting to say those three words but was it too soon? Was it too late? Should he say it before everything falls apart, before Steve tries to find his Bucky again. He pulled James closer, hands moving to hold his face gently, “please don’t forget, please don’t forget me.” Tears were running down his face as his forehead pressed against the Soldier’s, trying to hold on to what they had. He was pulled closer, his nose scenting at the smell of James’ neck, the smell of blood and gunpowder relaxing him.</p><p>“If I ever forget, I’ll just look up at the sky, it is as bright and blue as your heart, Котенок.” Tony looked up, his tears being wiped away by the Soldier, giving him a wavering smile back. “Don’t let them hurt you too much.”</p><p>“My handlers will do their best, I cannot guarantee pain.” The Soldier kissed his forehead one last time, hands lingering on Tony’s body before reluctantly dropping. James gave him coffee, a sedative was already put in to put Tony to sleep, and Tony knew that. They both knew he needed the sleep anyway, having been up for more than twenty-four hours even before the fight. “Sleep my little Котенок, you’ll be ok.” Tony’s hand held tightly on James’ metal hand, pulling on top of the arc reactor, the hum of it making him calmer. James kissed his lips one final time before taking Tony away.</p>
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</div><em>Stark! Stark! Can you hear me! Tony!</em> The noises echoed through his head before opening his eyes, regretting the action immediately. There was bright light right in his face right now, and it was blinding Tony. “Someone move that damn light away, we’re not trying to blind him!” He heard more noises before Tony squinted his eyes open, looking around, blinking away the blurriness. Fully opening his eyes, Tony took in his surroundings, noticing Natasha, Steve, and Sam all by his side. Tony turned in time to see Fury laying in a bed across from him, waving weakly. “Hey, woah, woah, what are you doing?”<p>“Um, getting up? I need to,” he grunted as he sat up, thankful that the throbbing was gone from his shoulder entirely. “We thought you were dead or something, Tony.” </p><p>“Ha, not dead, sleep, yes.” Natasha rolled her eyes before handing Tony some apple juice, helping him sit properly to drink it. “What happened? You were there one second, then gone the next?” </p><p>“Steve--”</p><p>“No, what aren’t you telling me, Stark.” Tony looked up to see Steve’s frown, silently thanking any god out there that it wasn’t his ‘Captain America is disappointed in you’ face. “Ugh, where to start, let’s see. I’ve known the Soldier since I was seven. Ever since Afghanistan, he’s popping up everywhere I am, always near me, or protecting me. He helped me stop the Mandarin with Rhodey, stopped me from dying repeatedly.” </p><p>“Did you know. Did you?” Tony groaned, glaring at Steve before shaking his head, “look, I didn’t know until you were out of the ice. I had Natasha do some digging.” He watched as Steve paced back and forth, hands running through his hair and his mouth. “I didn’t know his real name Steve and I never asked either. You can’t push him to remember, otherwise he’ll disappear.”</p><p>“Why didn’t you tell me then! I should’ve known sooner.” </p><p>“It wasn’t my place to tell you Steve, and besides we both knew it would happen eventually.”</p><p>“We?” Tony rolled his eyes before looking back at Steve, “the Soldier and I. I warned him that one day you’d find out eventually and we couldn’t do anything but let it happen.”</p><p>“How come he doesn’t remember me then? Why does he remember you?” </p><p>“Because I’m the only thing he remembers. I’m the only thing that will keep him remembering. They erase his memories after every mission but he remembers me. I don’t know why he does either,” he heard Steve sigh while sitting on the end of the bed, looking at Tony. “He grabbed you to protect you, each time something bad was happening. Because he remembers you.”</p><p>“Basically, y’all have been dating then for what? Like five, six years?”</p><p>“Can we please not talk about this now, please. I--” He heard Steve sigh before walking away from them, while Fury shook his head. “It seems Stark, here, knew the entire time the person who almost killed me on top of the dozen assassinations over the years.” Natasha adjusted the pillows before sitting at his bedside, fixing a few hairs out of place while Sam walked outside. “What happened, Tony? We found you outside of this place, shoulder was all good to go.”</p><p>“Woke up on the roof of some building I think, he was there, gave me a sedative to sleep. Knew I needed it.”<br/>
“And?” She looked at him, expecting more and Tony sort of agreed with her, but not much happened. “Nothing else happened Nat, I mean I woke up, my shoulder was wrapped and that was it.”</p><p>“Did he say anything about the next mission?” Tony shook his head, looking down at his hands, which were slightly swollen from the pieces of glass being taken out. “Nat, I’m scared, and you know I don’t admit that a lot. Hydra’s planning something with Project: Insight, and I think I know who his handler is.”</p><p>“Who?” She touched his hand gently, looking concerned at Tony before he said, “Alexander Pierce. We missed it. Hydra was growing right under our noses, like a goddamn parasite and we didn’t know it.”</p>
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</div>“Tony, if you come with us, this fight will only be more difficult.” Steve looked at him sternly, arms crossed while looking down at Tony. He rolled his eyes, this was the worst time to start acting like an asshole again if this is what Steve was doing. “This isn’t a war, Rogers. This is us saving something bigger from killing thousands more. If your buddy comes, I doubt he’ll stop even if he sees me.”<p>“Do you love him?” They stopped walking before Steve turned to look at him, the navy stealth suit making his features stand out more. Tony looked away from his eyes, ignoring the sting of pain they reminded him of. “I have since he stopped me from dying. Long time ago, someone took my reactor out, he put it back in,” tapping at the reactor before biting his lip, “Steve, look, whatever happens, don’t push him to remember. He will remember, also he doesn’t like the name Bucky at all. Don’t blame him though.”</p><p>“Bucky is the name I called him though since we--”</p><p>“Yeah, I know, since you guys were born, exactly called him that once in Tennessee. Didn’t like it one bit. Look Steve, he’ll remember but don’t expect sunshine and rainbows if you see him up close.” He grinned at Steve, patting him on the back as they followed Hill, Sam, and Natasha out of the abandoned building into the woods.</p>
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</div>Tony crashed through the glass windows in time to help Natasha fight off the last of the S.T.R.I.K.E. Team members, getting out of the suit as Natasha ripped off her disguise. He kicked Pierce into the wall, pushing the rest of the Council members to the side to get to the computer. “Jarvis, you know what to do,” he typed at the keyboard before nodding to Natasha, whose gun was aimed at Pierce. “What are you doing?”<p>“He’s disabling security protocols and dumping all the secrets onto the Internet.”</p><p>“Including Hydra’s, come on Pierce? Did you really think I was that stupid? If it was Natasha, she would’ve exposed both Hydra and Shield. Since I’m here, only Hydra will be exposed.” </p><p>“You sure you're doing the right thing, Stark? You do that, everyone will see things you probably won’t want them to see.”</p><p>“Unlike you, Pierce, I’ve grown up with secrets not even being secrets. The public knows everything about me but I will protect the rest of Shield from being exposed. Only Hydra will be exposed for what they’ve done.”</p><p>“What would Howard think of you now--” it made Tony stop typing, meeting Pierce’s look, he just had to pull out the Howard card, didn’t he? “Howard would’ve done the exact same thing, so would’ve my Aunt Peggy. So don’t talk to me about what Howard would do.” </p><p>“Sir, the Soldier is aboard a Helicarrier, I would suggest leaving now.” </p><p>“Mmhmm, got it J, Nat, you wanna have the rest of the fun?”</p><p>“I would be delighted. Will that be all Stark?”</p><p>“No, I think not.” He pecked her on the cheek before running through the broken window, the suit activating as he fell, before flying upwards. Tony could see the explosions that the Soldier was causing but decided not to do anything, it wouldn’t help anyway. So he flew towards the underbelly of the last Helicarrier, he could hear Steve and Sam talking on the comms before seeing Steve fall into the air. “Steve!” Sam flew down to catch Steve while Tony flew up, landing with a thud next to a few destroyed quinjets. </p><p>He landed in time to see the two landing on the ground, “you know, you're a lot heavier than you look.” Steve blushed before waving at Tony, “I had a big breakfast.”</p><p>“Or it’s the fact that you're a supersoldier, Cap.” They laughed before the Soldier came out of nowhere, charging towards Steve and throwing him off the helicarrier. Tony dove downwards while Sam tried following before the Soldier stopped him. He sighed in relief though, seeing Steve holding onto a gap of the helicarrier. Tony flew towards Steve, holding out his hand to help, Steve taking it before they flew down to the underbelly again. </p><p>They broke through the glass barrier, landing on the ramp leading to the targeting blades. Steve stopped in front of Tony though, which only made Tony more annoyed. Not that he was complaining about having Captain America protecting him, he really didn’t need the protection. “People are gonna die, James.” Tony could see the Soldier silently lowering his gaze at Steve, “I can’t let that happen.” There was no response to Steve’s words, the silence making Tony want to panic more.</p><p>“You have something of mine, I’ll need him back.” </p><p>“Please don’t make me do this.” Tony noticed Steve’s hand tightening on the handles of the shield, his stance tensing more and more. Internally, he felt guilty that Steve was going through this, that this was happening at all. Steve turned his back to the Soldier, looking down at Tony, “Tony, I need you to replace this,” showing the targeting blade, handing it to him “with the one already in there. The helicarriers are only gonna work if this is in.” Tony took it, swallowing hard before Steve turned back to the Soldier, throwing the shield at the Soldier. Tony jumped off the railing, flying midair before the suit activated, while the fight between the two supersoldiers began. </p><p>He moved to the opposite side, hiding behind the beams while hearing grunts and bullets hitting metal ringing out. Tony winced hearing Steve’s cry of pain and the Soldier’s scream when he heard bones crack. He scurried to the panel, pressing the buttons for them to move, before a shield came his way. Tony ducked in time while Steve threw the Soldier to the ground, glass cracking under the weight. </p><p>“Tony! Put it in!” Tony gave him the finger, quickly pulling out the old one, before slipping the new target blade into its place. “Hill, it’s done!” </p><p>“Stand by Stark.” </p><p>“Sir, I--” Tony turned in time, an object disabling the suit entirely before he looked in the direction of where it came from. He pressed the emergency latches, collapsing to the ground next to Steve, who was bleeding immensely. “Steve, Steve, hey, we have to go.” He slapped Steve across the face before more explosions happened, making Tony fall over the railing onto the glass. He could hear screaming echoing through the empty helicarrier. </p><p>“Tony!”</p><p>“No! You go after him! Steve, he has to live, please! I’ll be fine.” Steve looked like he was in pain figuring this all out before Tony used what muscle he could, shoving him in the direction of the fallen Soldier. His shoulder was throbbing again, and without the suit and Jarvis, Tony didn’t know what to do now. He could hear Steve trying to get James to talk and this was not a good time! “For god sake, Rogers! I asked you to save him not test him!” </p><p>The glass cracked further as Tony moved, making him stop in place. He looked back in time to see Steve <em>letting go</em> of the shield, shaking his head towards James. “You’re my mission!” Tony looked at Steve before Steve nodded, looking back at James, “then finish it. Because I’m with you to the end of the line.” Tony smiled sadly, because this is what made the Soldier stop punching Steve, he was remembering whether he wanted to or not. A part of the helicarrier went through itself, breaking apart, bringing Steve with it. Tony laughed, sighing in relief at what happened, hearing the glass break entirely, making him gasp. </p><p>He fell, letting himself go before a hand reached for him, pulling him to their chest, as they fell down, further and further. They both looked up at the sky, as they fell together, the clouds colliding with the smoke in the air. “I forgive you, I forgive you for this, I love you too much to hate you.” James looked at him before holding him closer, “don’t die, Котенок, because I’ll catch you when you fall.” They collided with the water, tears running down Tony’s face as he realized the Soldier was no more.<br/>
“Come home, bambino.”</p>
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    <strong>_______________</strong>
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</div>The Soldier carried his little Котенок in his arms, swimming until they got a breath of fresh air. Carefully, he carried Tony from the water, kissing his forehead before laying him on the ground. He swam back in to catch the Captain, dragging him by his straps to the shoreline. He held his injured arm to his chest before picking Tony up, using his metal arm, walking away from the Captain while looking down at the injured man.<p>“I want to, Котенок, but I need some time.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kotehok - Kitten<br/>Dorogoy - Darling</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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